Early Civil Rights

Question 0

What were some problems with the early civil rights movement?

Answer 0

Many southern states had separate schools for white and black people.
Many white Americans were determined to defend segregation.

Question 1

What were some signs of progress in the civil rights movement 1945-62?

Answer 1

1 million black Americans fought in WWII and many came home hoping for change.
Many joined civil rights groups like CORE and NAACP
NAACP campaigns included education.

Question 2

What did the NAACP stand for and what was it?

Answer 2

National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People
Worked to improve civil rights for black equality.
Raised awareness for the problem and sought to use all legal means to achieve equality.

Question 3

What did CORE stand for and what was it?

Answer 3

Congress of Racial Equality
Employed the idea of sit-ins at restaurants and cinemas to highlight the issue if segregation.
Non-violent
Began to demand the end of segregation in public transport.

Question 4

What did SNCC stand for and what was it?

Answer 4

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Set up by Stokely Carmichael in 1960
Generally younger people
More active than most non-violent movements and more in your face.

Question 5

What was Brown v. Topeka?

Answer 5

1954
A court case that said that segregation in schools was illegal in the USA.
Brown was a black family whose segregated school was too far away.
NAACP supported the case.
In Topeka, Kansas.

Question 6

What was Plessy v. Ferguson?

Answer 6

A court case in 1896 which established the principle of ‘separate but equal’.
Said that segregation was ok and made it legal.

Question 7

What happened at Little Rock?

Answer 7

1957
It was a challenge to segregation.
Although the law had changed, Arkansas still wouldn’t let their schools be integrated.
9 black students tried to go to a school in Little Rock and the head of state in Arkansas sent the the National Guard to stop them from getting into the school.
They kept going but were stopped by mobs.
Eisenhower eventually sent the National Guard and federal troops to protect the black students.
It was important because they took action and caused other people to challenge segregation.

Question 8

What happened with James Meredith?

Answer 8

1962
He was a black student who tried to get into the University of Mississippi.
He wasn’t accepted into the University because the state government tried to stop him.
However, the President intervened and he got in. He was the first black student to go to the University.
This sparked large riots.

Question 9

When was the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

Answer 9

Late 1955 to late 1956

Question 10

When and how did the Montgomery Bus Boycott start?

Answer 10

On 1st December 1955 Rosa Parks was sitting in the 6th row of a bus.
The bus was segregated, the first five rows were ‘white only’.
As the bus filled up the driver told Rosa and three other black people to move out of their seats so a white person could sit in that row.
The others moved but Rosa refused. The driver called the police.
Rosa was arrested and fined.

Question 11

What happened during the boycott?

Answer 11

The NAACP organised a one-day bus boycott.
That evening the MIA was set up to improve integration.
The MIA asked people to boycott all Montgomery buses and organised lifts and taxis instead.
70% of bus users were black people and some white people and most black people joined the boycott.
It lasted 381 days.

Question 12

What were the MIA?

Answer 12

Mississippi Improvement Association

Question 13

What were the results of the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

Answer 13

Martin Luther King was made chairman of the MIA.
The bus company lost a lot of money.
Some employers sacked workers who joined the boycott.
The town of Montgomery got a bad reputation.
The US Supreme Court made segregation on buses unconstitutional in December 1956.

Question 14

What was the 1957 Civil Rights Act?

Answer 14

Passed by congress and Eisenhower supported it.
Hoped to increase number of black American voters.
For it’s first project, it looked for evidence of racial discrimination in Voting rights in Montgomery, Alabama.
Emphasised the right of all people to vote.
Allowed federal government to intervene if individuals were prevented from voting.
Stated that all people had the right to serve on juries.

Question 15

What were the Greensboro Sit-ins?

Answer 15

In the 1950s there were several sit-ins, sit-down demonstrations and boycotts.
This was held at the Greensboro branch of Woolworth’s.
4 black students demanded to be served at a whites-only lunch counter.
When they were refused, they stayed there until the shop closed.
The next day, 27 more students joined them and after that, 80 students.
On the fifth day, there were 300.
The students then continued to boycott any shops in Greensboro, causing sales to drop.

Question 16

Who was Martin Luther King?

Answer 16

He believed in non-violent direct action to achieve civil rights.
He believed that worldwide media coverage of violence against peacefulf protestors would put huge pressure on the US government to change.

Question 17

What other forms of protest were used?

Answer 17

Picketing outside shops that discriminated against black people.
Boycotting services that discriminated.
Sit-ins - sitting in at white-only parts of segregated lunch counters.

Question 18

Who were the freedom riders?

Answer 18

In 1961 the Supreme Courts passed a law to desegregate the facilities in bus stations.
CORE and the SNCC organised freedom rides.
These were buses that would drive through the south testing the facilities in the bus stations to make sure that they were integrated.
They deliberately put white protestors on the buses as well as black ones.
The first two buses were attacked and the riders were beaten up at several stops.
At Anniston in 1961, one of the buses was firebombed.
The riders were imprisoned in Birmingham and beaten up in Montgomery.
Over the summer, more than 400 freedom riders were arrested and a much larger number were beaten up.
Three were killed.

Question 19

What opposition was there to the early civil rights movement?

Answer 19

It was very strong in southern states.
Many states defied federal law.
The Klu Klux Klan organised extreme violence, including murder.
Some policemen and judges were involved with the KKK.

Question 20

How was JFK involved in the early civil rights movement?

Answer 20

He began to appoint black Americans to important positions.
His brother, Robert, prosecuted people who tried to prevent blacks from voting.
They both held meetings with the main civil rights groups, including the SNCC, CORE and the NAACP. Between them they formed the Voter Education Project.
JFK sent the National Guard and federal troops into Mississippi to make sure that James Meredith could take his place at the University.

Question 21

What was the Voter Education Project?

Answer 21

Helped black Americans register for the vote.
Increased number of black voters.
However intimidation of blacks increased and houses and property were burnt.